This invention relates to a method and apparatus for culturing or growing individually identifiable embryos in a communal environment. More specifically, this invention relates to an embryo culturing apparatus and method wherein individual embryos in the apparatus are kept physically separated from each other, but are permitted to share a common growth-enhancing nutrient, and each other""s growth by-products, thereby resulting in an increased proficiency of the embryo growth process.
Human, and other animal embryos, are presently grown in a suitable growth-enhancing nutrient, typically for about three days, prior to implantation of the embryos into a female""s reproductive system. There are several generally practiced embryo growth procedures which are presently in use. One of the generally practiced embryo growth techniques involves the use of a culturing container, such as a Petrie dish, in which individual embryos are placed in spaced-apart locations in the culturing dish. This technique involves the placement of individual embryos on a growth-enhancing nutrient in spaced apart positions in the Petrie dish, and subsequently immersing each of the individual embryos in a drop of a growth-enhancing nutrient. In this manner, the individual embryos are kept separate from each other and can be easily identified, one from another, and separately examined. Thus, the advantage of this procedure is the ability to monitor each individual embryo throughout the growth period so that there is a degree of selectivity available at the uterine-implanting stage of the process. One drawback in using this procedure relates to the fact that embryonic growth seems to be improved when the several embryos being grown are grown in a common growth-enhancing nutrient and are able to share each other""s growth induced by-products.
Another of the generally practiced embryo growth techniques involves clustering a plurality of embryos together on a Petrie dish or in a growth tube, and covering the cluster with a common drop of the growth-enhancing nutrient. Using this technique, all of the embryos in a cluster are exposed to the same growth-enhancing nutrient drop and are able to share that growth-enhancing nutrient and also share their respective by-products of the growth process. The drawback with the second technique is that one cannot distinguish one embryo from another in the cluster, in other words, each individual embryo cannot be separately monitored during the growth process. Thus, the ability to select a preferred one of the grown embryos for implanting is somewhat impaired by use of the second growth technique.
It would be highly desirable to provide an embryo growing method and apparatus, which would provide the ability to segregate the individual embryos, one from another, while also providing the ability to allow the segregated embryos to share a common growth-enhancing nutrient and share each other""s growth by-products.
This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for growing embryos in vitro prior to implantation of the embryo in a female""s reproductive system. The method and apparatus of this invention provides for the positive identification of each of the embryos being grown, and also allows several embryos to share a common growth-enhancing nutrient solution, and to share each other""s growth by-products. Thus embryos can be individually monitored as to their growth and development. The growth process is performed in a container, such as a Petrie dish, or the like. A plurality of compartmentalized embryo-containing structures are dispersed in the Petrie dish in a predetermined pattern. Each of the compartmentalized structures contains a plurality of separate compartments which are sized to hold one embryo each. The compartments are separated from each other by pickets which form a fence-like barrier between each embryo compartment in each of the compartmentalized structures. Each of the compartmentalized structures thus allows inter compartmental migration of the growth-enhancing nutrient and of growth by-products produced by each of the embryos disposed in one of the structures. The compartmentalized structures are also sized so as to be submersible in a single drop of the embryo growth-enhancing nutrient. The compartmentalized structures are preferably molded into and are integral with the bottom wall of the Petrie dish, which in turn is molded from a suitable plastic material. The plastics preferred are plastics which exhibit minimal off gassing of their structural compounds.
The following is a general description of one manner of using the apparatus of this invention for in vitro growing of fertilized embryos prior to implantation of an embryo into a female recipient""s reproductive tract. As noted above, the compartmentalized embryo-containing structures are preferably positioned in the Petrie dish in some predetermined location. In such an arrangement there will be a plurality of the compartmentalized structures in the Petrie dish. These compartmentalized structures can be visibly designated by the letters A, B, C, D, etc., and of course their locations on the Petrie dish will be known and fixed. An area on the Petrie dish can be utilized to display embryo recipient and embryo growth information for a technician monitoring the growth of the embryos in the apparatus. Each of the compartmentalized structures will include a plurality of compartments, say, for example, four compartments. Each compartment in each compartmentalized structure can be designated by a numeral, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and the like. With such an apparatus, there will be a plurality of different compartments, each of which will contain a separate embryo. Each of the compartments can be uniquely identified as, for example, A1, B2, C3, and the like. Thus, there could be A1-A4 embryo compartments, B1-B4 embryo compartments, and the like, in the Petrie dish. With the apparatus of this invention, the growth history of each of the embryos can be monitored, and the embryo growth history can be recorded in individual embryo growth histograms by a technician monitoring embryo growth in the apparatus. The specific number of the plurality of individual compartments in the compartmentalized embryo-growth structure can vary, as required. By monitoring individual embryo growth history, the best embryonic candidate for implantation, from the group of embryos being grown in the apparatus, can be identified. The individual embryos may be studied and monitored as to their morphological development and viability during the growth term in the assembly. Information regarding morphological development and viability for each of the individual embryos in the compartments can be documented for future individual embryo viability determinations.
The following is a listing of several desirable, but non-essential, objects of this invention.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved embryo growth-supporting method and apparatus which enables one to monitor the growth of individual embryos which are disposed in a growth-enhancing nutrient.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus of the character described which enables individual embryos in the growth-enhancing nutrient to share growth by-products of other embryos in the growth-enhancing nutrient.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus of the character described which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus of the character described wherein individual embryos in the apparatus can be cataloged with specific identification indicia which can be used to indicate the exact location of each of the embryos in the apparatus, and their individual growth history.